Carl McColman presents:
In the Footsteps of Saint Francis:
Exploring the Link Between
Mysticism and Social Action
Friday, October 18: 5:30 pm potluck dinner; 6:30-8:00 pm presentation
Saturday, October 19: 8:30 am complimentary continental breakfast; 9:00 - 10:30 am, presentation and Q&A
Note: If you plan to attend the potluck supper
before the presentation, don’t forget to bring your own table setting: plates,
cups and cutlery! Those who don’t choose to attend the supper are more than
welcome to come just for the program that begins at 6:30.
In Adshead Hall
(lower level of Fletcher House on the Uplands Village Campus)
86A Church Dr,
Pleasant Hill, 38578, (just off Main St. across from Pleasant Hill Elementary
School)
The German
theologian Karl Rahner famously said "The Christian of the future will be
a mystic or will not exist." But in the minds of many, mysticism sounds
like escapism: a spiritual "bypass" that hides away in meditation and
avoids the challenges of today's world. Yet if we look at the great mystics of
the past — from St. Francis in the
12th century to Thomas Merton in the 20th — we can see that the greatest
mystics were often profoundly engaged with the social, political, and moral
crises of their time.
In our program, led by Carl McColman, author of The Big Book of Christian Mysticism,
we'll reflect on how mysticism and social action belong together just as surely
as do breathing in and breathing out. We'll pay special attention to the
beloved Italian friar, Francis of Assisi, but our exploration will likely cover
a wide terrain as we seek to find the connection between meditation and activism — and how to embrace that
connection in our own lives.
